The Possessive Alpha Chapter 126

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ALPHA CHARLES POV 

The longer we sit in this cell without Olivia meeting my eyes or talking to me, the more the anger rises in my stomach, burning like acid. She knows more than she lets on, and I cannot handle any more lies or deception. Poseidon hasn't stopped whimpering and whining since Damon left us here. 

The medics came and went taking Simon with them; Damon is lucky he gave him the antidote when he did; otherwise, it could have been a lot worse than paralysis. Now it's Olivia and I trapped in this damn cell...alone, and she won't say a goddamn thing. Hell, she doesn't have the respect to look me in the eye or talk to me the entire night. She skillfully ignores each question I scream at her while the guards outside try not to eavesdrop, but it's impossible because the individual cells aren't soundproofed, only from the rest of the house. 

I don't know how long we have been stuck in here, but the longer it goes on, the more I feel like a caged animal Poseidon and I's anger mingling to unbearable control; grabbing the bars, I watch my skin burn while I scream at the sky, at the Goddess above, and at anyone else who will listen.

What the hell is going on with my mate? Where is the seventeen-year-old girl I met and fell in love with? She remains as mute as a mouse, my heart breaking, and I think Poseidon is slowly dying. I haven't slept in hours. 

I know the guards are watching with pity as they throw secretive glances at one another. It's rare for a mate bond to fail so spectacularly; I thought we were happy...I thought we could talk about anything. Where did I go wrong?

Stopping my pacing, I sit on the floor, resting my head against the cold concrete and staring at Liv, willing her to talk, but she doesn't speak. Her body language is closed off to me, her legs tucked while she rests her arms and head on them with her face toward the ground. 

"You won't even give me the respect of looking at me?" I growl, unable to bite my tongue. "FUCKING TALK!!!" I roar, but she doesn't move a muscle, remaining as rigid as before. 

I can't help the silent tear that falls down my cheek as I stare at the love of my life, crying myself into a restless sleep where I wake randomly to find her in the same position. "What did you do, Liv? Please? Just talk to me?" I ask my voice barely above a whisper. Could she really have been involved in this whole thing with Cynthia? What does she know? 

"Is protecting Cynthia more important than our bond?" I ask, my voice weak from the constant screaming, and still, she doesn't say a fucking word. "Do you have so little respect for me that you'd rather ruin everything between us? Because I swear to the Goddess Liv, if you don't tell me before Damon returns, I swear to the Goddess I will make you regret every second we were ever mated." 

I lash out my words like a whip as they slice against her armor, hoping to find a weakness, and I think they hit their mark as she flinches ever so slightly before returning to her being still. How is she not sore all bunched up like that? Goddess, why the fuck do I even care? It's not like she gives two fucks about me because if she did, she would open her mouth. 

Screaming in frustration, I throw my fist into the cold cement ground, the bones in my fist snapping like a twig underneath the force. Still, I welcome the pain as anything is better than sitting here in silence, knowing Olivia won't make a peep, no matter what I do. 

No longer able to stand the nervous energy, I rise to my feet, ignoring how my joints pop and crack with each movement as I rise from the floor. With nothing better to do, I hold my broken fist in one hand while pacing back and forth. 

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I don't know how long I have let my feet carry me in this small space as I struggle to stay upright, my legs burning with the need to quit, but I refuse. It's been hours, and Olivia still hasn't said a word, switching her position so that she is lying face down using her arms as a pillow. 

Poseidon hasn't made a sound either, his devastation worse than mine as he tries to block out his pain. Every atom I am composed of wants to rage, to become a monster she fears, and maybe then she will find the words to tell me what the fuck she did. 

As I glare at the woman I have loved for more than half my life, a storm begins to form in the pack mindlink. Suddenly a woosh of air swirls around us as a surge of power flows through the entire pack, strengthening its members. A new pulse of life clings to the air as the distant howls of celebration can be heard in the distance as the New Moon salutes the marking and mating of their Alpha and Luna. 

A moment of silence stills the air before a rush of removed memories force their way into my mind as I crash to the ground on my knees from how overwhelming it is. Clutching my head, a scream I don't recognize vibrates the room.

Flashes from the past dance behind my closed eyes, the suspicion, catching Olivia and Cynthia whispering conspiratorily, and a recollection of Olivia calling Penelope... Elle before we even knew her name. My eyes snap to my mate, who has finally lifted her head to watch what's happening to me, sadness dancing in her eyes, but it only angers me more. 

Meeting her eyes, the last memory, and the most heartbreaking one, pops into my head. I had been growing suspicious of Olivia and Cynthia's refusal to fight Tiberius. Their instance to go through with the spells and complicated plan when it wasn't necessary. I had figured out what Cynthia's true plan was going to be...I was supposed to meet Alaric...but instead of showing up...it was Cynthia, Olivia, and a witch. Two days later, the spells had been placed on the children, and a week later 

"I remember..." I whisper as all the love I had for my mate slips away into nothing, my heart growing cold against her. I watch as the blood drains from her face, eyes wide as she sits up, quickly scooting away. 

"That's not possible..." she says, practically shaking as the anger rolls around me, letting it run free I hope it suffocates her. 

In a flash, I am across the room with her neck clasped in my hand as I lift her and slam her into the wall. "Why?" I demand, no longer accepting her silence. "You either tell me willingly, you succubus, or I am going to make your life a living hell before I finally kill you."

"Charles," she says through her fake tears, "I..." she tries to find the right words. She tries to find another lie to cover her ass.